Worldbuilding John Wick
From gold coins to the Continental.
Worldbuilding takes many shapes- elegantly simple or indulgently laborious. Whole worlds or small corners within them are conjured by creators who seek to suspend the reader or viewer's disbelief to introduce a new world. Alternate realities or strange new worlds underpin science fiction and fantasy films, television, books, and video games. Any talk about complex or nuanced worldbuilding is generally confined to the heavy hitters within the genre- Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc. Conversations about constructed cultures, myths, and the rules and regulations within them never turn outside those fantastic realms. Until John Wick.
In 2014 an action movie unlike any other appeared on movie screens. Owing more to Hong Kong martial arts films than anything Hollywood ever produced, John Wick became a global phenomenon and set the standard for 21st-century action films. It also slowly and meticulously world-built over each successive installment. The initial subtle worldbuilding elements- mysterious gold currency, a unique cleaning service, and a hotel-sanctuary network- spawned intriguing ideas and myths over three more films. By the story's conclusion in the spring of 2023, John Wick's creative team, over four films, confidently turned a handful of small ideas into a sprawling, curiosity-inducing, and never-ending flow of mythic worldbuilding.
Each passing line or intriguing mention forces the viewer to ask questions, thereby becoming actively engaged in writing the unwritten script, propelling the viewer beyond the action on screen and demanding their curiosity to ask questions of the wider world and unseen narrative apparatus. In comparison, comic book movies require direct links to the source material, with reverential references that devolve into movies packed with Easter Eggs than a plot. John Wick's worldbuilding always served the story, sometimes in the smallest way, even if the pay-off wasn't until the next film. A world of codes and rules, occulted information and bounty networks, weapons purveyors, and ballistic tailors came together seemingly effortlessly in John Wick. Most interesting in the worldbuilding of the first installment are the forms of ‘panopticonism,’ and ‘company town’ employed by the unseen puppet masters in Wick’s world as a form of control of characters.
Over the coming weeks and months, Worldbuilding John Wick will cover the worldbuilding elements that made Wick unique in an oversaturated media landscape of built worlds. The initially subtle worldbuilding of Wick echoes small beginnings or elegant strands in other films. Beyond Wick, we will explore the subtlety of worldbuilding in other films from around the globe, each demonstrating the vitality of creative storytelling. Whether a small prop or a single line, worldbuilding can start little and become mighty, and John Wick is its exemplar.
Image created on Stable Diffusion via prompt '“John Wick in the style of Francis Bacon.”